11-for-11: Denny Hamlin ties Rusty Wallace in NASCAR Cup wins
Denny Hamlin’s victory Sunday in the Cook Out 400 tied the Joe Gibbs Racing driver with 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace for 11th all time on the series’ wins list.
Hamlin led the most laps — 261 of 400 — at Martinsville to capture his 55th career win and first victory since Dover last April, ending a 31-race winless streak.
“The car was great,” Hamlin said. “It did everything I needed it to do. Just so happy to win with Chris, get 55.”
Wallace’s last victory came at Martinsville in 2004 before he retired in 2005.
With his first pair of wins coming in his rookie campaign in 2006, Hamlin has won all 55 races behind-the-wheel of the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Ahead of Hamlin and Wallace on the wins list include Kevin Harvick (60) and Kyle Busch (63).
The 44-year-old racer has won six times at Martinsville, which leads the field among full-time drivers, but prior to Sunday, Hamlin had not won at Martinsville since 2015.
“Having it all come back at this track, where it was 10 years ago, 55, where Rusty Wallace got his 55th,” Hamlin said. “I’ll have time to let all that stuff digest, but in the moment it’s really awesome.”
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.